This won’t mean much to those under the age of 25 or 30, but those of us of a certain age will be sad to learn that Tony Hart has been forced to give up making art due to ill health. Hart became famous with generations of British kids for his art programmes and while not specifically comics-related I don’t doubt more than a few in the business were inspired and encouraged by his enthusiasm on his shows. Since suffering two strokes the 83 year old has not had the full use of his hands, meaning his beloved studio is now going unused. Obviously its an awful thing for an artist to be robbed of their creative outlet, but Tony seems to be taking some comfort from the many affectionate fans he accrued across decades on British TV: “My aged heart is warmed by the lovely letters and emails I receive, especially when they tell me that my work on television inspired the writers to become artists.” (via the BBC)
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:01 am
very sad to hear that ,i grew up with vision on and his own show with morph ,i guess he inspired me to use my imagination and to try different things paint, chalks, model making and using kitchen rubbish to make things ,a brilliant man and wonderful artist and great kids tv and you always remember john williams’s song for the gallery section of the show.